Kowa 553 Internal Rattle - Normal?

[Salmonson63]

Recently picked up a used Kowa 553 and noticed that when I rock the spotter back and forth I can hear an audible clunk or rattle from the either the eyepiece or dual focus knob area. Optically everything seems fine (without having one to compare to directly). Can anyone who owns a 553 or 554 confirm if they have an audible rattle or clunk when rocking or gently shaking the optic. It doesn’t seem normal to me, my assumption is everything should be tight with no noises, but figured I would check. I left a message with Kowa and am still waiting to hear back.


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[alaska_bou]

Not normal. Reach out to Kowa USA by phone (in California) and give them the serial number. Kowa is a good company, but If it comes back grey market it won't be covered. In that case I would ask the seller for a refund.

 

[Turkeygetpwnd38]

Not normal

 

[Salmonson63]

Sounds good. That’s what I figured but wanted to confirm.


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[flyinsquirel]

Mine does this, has since I bought it new. Agree that it hasn’t seemed to affect performance. Guess I should send it in.

 

[Hotmail]

This is worrisome. I have a 554 and hadn't noticed any rattle but then again I havent deliberately tried to shake it like a cocktail drink.

Had a Bushnell and Burris scope that did rattle and it was because they were broken.

 

[Salmonson63]

Just to update. I talked to two very well known Kowa dealers and sponsors of this forum as well as Kowa directly and all confirmed there shouldn’t be a rattle. Kowa recommended the spotter be shipped in so they can check it out. The spotter I have is going to be returned to the seller and he will deal with Kowa directly.


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[Salmonson63]

This is worrisome. I have a 554 and hadn't noticed any rattle but then again I havent deliberately tried to shake it like a cocktail drink.

Had a Bushnell and Burris scope that did rattle and it was because they were broken.

It definitely doesn’t need to be shaken very hard. Just a gentle rock back and forth and I could hear a rattle/clunk internally.


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[sportsmans challenge]

Kowa will make it right, I had an eyepiece recently that had a rattle after a wreck, I sent it in they checked it all out, sent it back and still rattled, called them up they sent me a shipping label and replaced it with a new(gen 2) eyepiece(my original one was an older gen 1)

 

[Hotmail]

Sounds like it may have gotten damaged during shipping. That's what the sender pays insurance for. If he has the original sales receipt he might get full value paid if it was insured and damaged in shipping.